Srinagar, Nov 9: Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) has hailed the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for choosing Srinagar among 49 cities as part of the creative city network under the Crafts and Folk Arts category.
Describing it as a historic moment, President TAAK Farooq A Kuthoo said UNESCO listing will give Kashmir global recognition.
“It is a proud moment for all of us and this nomination is the global recognition to the rich craft legacy of Srinagar. The historical crafts and arts of the Srinagar city are already famous and UNESCO’s nomination would further give it a much needed boost to not only crafts but also to the tourism sector.”
Notably, the process of nomination of Srinagar under the UNESCO ‘Creative City Network’ was undertaken and funded under the World Bank-funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project.
The dossier for its nomination was filed first in 2019 and again in 2021.
TAAK President urged both the department of tourism and handicrafts to work together and market Srinagar’s rich art and craft at the global level.
“This opens the avenues for Srinagar for development of arts and crafts and exhibitions of arts and crafts at the international level,” said Kuthoo.
The network involves folk art, media, film, literature, design, gastronomy and media arts. Srinagar was among one more cities from India competing for the coveted recognition this year.
TAAK hailed Saleem Beg of INTACH Kashmir, Director Industries Mahmood A Shah and other line departments including the funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project for taking up the exercise earnestly and positively.
We must also credit the success of this effort to the team of local craftsmen and folk artists whose work has finally got global recognition Srinagar is one of the oldest cities of the world and has got everything to become one of the heritage capitals of the country.
Downtown Srinagar is an open air museum, with rich legacy of art, crafts and cultural heritage.
This achievement has put Srinagar on the heritage platform and will help the millions of kashmiri artists associated with the rich arts and crafts.
